Katherine's Story

How CoaguChek® gave Katherine her independence and the chance to live the life she’s always wanted.

Born with pulmonary atresia, Katherine spent much of her early years in and out of hospital. After several major operations, her condition stabilised and she moved onto warfarin. Now a young adult, with the help of her CoaguChek®, she’s ready to leave home and go to university.

Katherine’s ordeal began the morning after her birth, when a vigilant mid-wife spotted she was blue and unusually quiet for a new born. She was rushed to a specialist children’s hospital, leaving her mother, Rachel, alone in the maternity ward.

“I went into having babies thinking it’ll all be sweetness and light,” says Rachel. “And then, for them just to say that something was wrong, it was indescribable. They discovered she had some sort of heart problem – in the right side of her heart, the valves were not formed and were blocked.”

Katherine had an immediate operation to increase the blood flow to her lungs, followed, 15 months’ later, by heart surgery, which saved her life. Thought initially small for her age, Katherine had a fairly normal childhood – although her condition meant she was prone to cold and had to be careful of contact sports, so she was often stuck inside when school friends were out playing.

Later she had a final heart surgery, to finish was Rachel describes as her ‘replumbing’. At that point Katherine went onto warfarin. “I had blood tests at the hospital and it took time out of school. It was pretty traumatic going there pretty much every month,” she says.

“It was quite a step going on to warfarin,” Rachel agrees, “because obviously you have to have monthly blood tests, sometimes more, depending on how stable your INR is.”

Katherine quickly grew to hate having blood tests, and developed a dislike of needles that persists to this day. Rachel, meanwhile, was upset by having to drag Katherine – sometime’s literally – to the hospital for INR tests.

“To then find there was a little machine which you can then prick your finger with and drop of blood and instant result was just magic, absolute magic,” says Rachel.

For someone whose early life was overshadowed by her condition, CoaguChek® has given Katherine and her family a longed-for sense of normality. “I have to use a CoaguChek® machine a couple of times a month,” says Katherine. “It’s really helpful. I can just do it whenever I need to. People don’t really realise that I have a heart condition.”

Critically, too, it’s also helped Katherine approach becoming a young adult with a sense of independence. She passed her GCSEs and, last year, she went on her first holiday abroad without her parents.

“She went to Portugal with her girlfriends,” says Rachel. “She took her CoaguChek®. This year there’s even been talk about Ayia Napa.”

“Having the CoaguChek® machine has given her the confidence to go out into the big wide world and know that she has a handle on looking after herself,” says Rachel. “She’s about to do her A-Levels in the summer and go off to uni in September.”

For any parent, a child leaving home is a bittersweet moment, but for Rachel it’s especially so. Having spent Katherine’s early years worrying about her survival, she now finds herself able to contemplate Katherine’s going to university in a different city.

“The course she’s chosen sounds great. She’ll have a whale of a time,” says Rachel. “But I am going to miss her terribly…”

Related Stories

April, 2016

Sign up to our newsletter

Keep up to date on the latest news around self-testing.

I’d like to hear from Roche Diagnostics Limited by email. We are committed to using you personal information in accordance with our privacy policy and our data protection statement. Tick the box to confirm that you have read and agree to our terms and conditions. You can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing us here or by calling the Customer Care Line.

Play the CoaguChek game. Can you make the right connections in the quickest time?

Self-Monitoring can involve self-testing where the test is performed at home but the dose is communicated by your healthcare professional or self-managing, where the test and dosage adjustment is completed at home, following an agreed care protocol.

This website is designed for use in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland. Healthcare professionals can also visit www.coaguchek.co.uk. Date of preparation October 2016.

This website contains information on products which is targeted to a wide range of audiences and could contain product details or information otherwise not accessible or valid in your country. Please be aware that we do not take any responsibility for accessing such information which may not comply with any valid legal process, regulation, registration or usage in the country of your origin.

If you wish to report an issue with your meter or an adverse event, we would advise you to contact the Care Line on 0808 100 7666 or speak to your healthcare professional immediately.

Play the CoaguChek game. Can you make the right connections in the quickest time?

Self-Monitoring can involve self-testing where the test is performed at home but the dose is communicated by your healthcare professional or self-managing, where the test and dosage adjustment is completed at home, following an agreed care protocol.

This website is designed for use in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland. Healthcare professionals can also visit www.coaguchek.co.uk. Date of preparation October 2016.

This website contains information on products which is targeted to a wide range of audiences and could contain product details or information otherwise not accessible or valid in your country. Please be aware that we do not take any responsibility for accessing such information which may not comply with any valid legal process, regulation, registration or usage in the country of your origin.

If you wish to report an issue with your meter or an adverse event, we would advise you to contact the Care Line on 0808 100 7666 or speak to your healthcare professional immediately.

If you would like to make it easier to buy, take advantage of our interest free Easy Payment Plan, spread over 12 or 24 months.*

Available via the Care Line team. For more details please call 0808 100 7666.

(24 x monthly payments of just £12.45**,12 x monthly payments of just £24.91**,total price £299) CoaguChek INRange test strips are available on prescription or you can buy online directly from Roche***

* T&Cs apply **Interest free Easy Payment Plan – Patient only (maximum 1 individual purchase). Individual patients can benefit from an Easy Payment Plan, spreading the cost interest free over 12 or 24 months. In these cases the patient will need to make the purchase and a credit check will be required.

Representative example:

Cash Price £299

Total amount of credit £299

Interest rate 0% fixed

Pay either £24.91 per month for 12 months or £12.45 per month for 24 months

0% APR representative

Total amount payable £298.92 over 12 months or £298.80 over 24 months

This finance option is available through Roche Diagnostics Limited, Charles Avenue, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9RY. Roche Diagnostics Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Credit is provided by Hitachi Personal Finance, a division of Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Prices are correct at time of preparation (November 2014). Prices are correct at time of last update (November 2016). Prices and finance options are subject to change. Finance requires credit checks before approval. *** Test strips are required and are available on prescription (GP’s discretion, prescription charges may apply). Care Line operational hours are Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm. Patients who are chronically sick are eligible for VAT exemption, for more information please refer to HM Revenue and Customs on 0300 200 3700